


Fault

by glassgoblin



Series: Carol's Word-A-Day Calendar [161]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-27 08:58:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5042113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassgoblin/pseuds/glassgoblin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the 10-18 episode; Eric goes to find Aaron when he leaves the clinic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fault

After Denise asked them to leave the clinic he wasn’t sure where to go at first. The attack on Alexandria seemed to be mostly over, and he wanted to find Aaron. There were a few more gun shots, but he moved carefully, staying near the houses instead of the sidewalks, and looked down each block as much as he could before moving forward. There were so many bodies, some of which were in such a state that he wasn’t sure what to think, while others were merely shot. The whole community was a mess, and it felt as though everything he had thought was safe was suddenly tossed up in the air and was still falling back down.

Eric spotted Aaron sitting on the steps in front of one of the houses, staring at whatever he was holding. He was splattered with blood and Eric hurried to get to him, while trying not to startle him. He looked as though he might be in shock. “Aaron? Are you alright?”

There was no response at first, and then a slow shake of his head. “This is my fault.” He looked up at Eric then, as though surprised to find he wasn’t alone any longer. “I thought that you were going to stay at the clinic.”

“Holly died. Denise tried to save her, but it just didn’t work. She wanted to be alone for a while.” Eric sat down on the steps next to Aaron, trying to see what he was holding. “Are you okay? Were you injured? There’s so much blood.”

Aaron took a few seconds, as though having trouble processing what Eric had said, again. “I’m not hurt. Not my blood.” He shoved the papers he had been holding at Eric and waited until they were taken from him.

“They had these?” Eric flipped through the photographs. He knew them as well as Aaron did, having seen them many times while on the recruiting runs they had been on together. “How?”

“When Daryl and I were caught in that trap, I dropped my bag.” He started to raise a hand, to rub his eyes and stopped, not wanting to smear the blood splatters. “The walkers in that trap were marked like these people were, with a ‘W’ on their foreheads. I guess we know who set the trap, and I let them find us.”

“No.” Eric set the pictures aside. “You were in danger, caught in a trap that would have killed you had Morgan not come along when he did. That they found the bag, and managed to connect the pictures to this place? Not your fault. If someone had managed to find the car we lost, and there was enough evidence of Alexandria in it, would that be our fault?”

Aaron shrugged, “Maybe.”

“No. We leave signs every time we go out. There are people out there who could be watching any of the run teams; could follow them back here any time or just happen upon our walls by chance. This wasn’t your fault.” He didn’t like the way that Aaron seemed to be shutting down. “Is it safe to go home?”

“I don’t know.” Aaron looked up again, picking the pictures up from the step and shoving them back into the small surplus Army bag. “We should see where everyone else is. I haven’t seen Deanna. I should tell her about this.”

Eric stood, carefully, and glanced around the block to see if there was anything moving, “Wait. If you want to tell her later, okay, but not right now when people are freaking out. I know this isn’t your fault, but I don’t trust some of our neighbors. If they’ve survived.” He frowned, not liking the way that sounded, and hating the way it made him feel for saying it, but Aaron nodded and took his hand before shakily standing. “Which direction?”

“Toward the wall I think.” He hesitated, squeezing Eric’s hand before letting go, “We still have to be careful. There might be more of them hiding or in the houses.”


End file.
